The garden room in Greenwich is a seemingly effortless space that inspires ornithological fantasies. Birds, both real and decorative, fill the room. In a corner sits a green "obelisk" birdcage from John Russelli Antiques; against the enormous window stands a birdhouse, an English folly from Trevor Potts; there are even two occasional tables whose bases resemble wading cranes.
Interior Visions: Great American Designers and the Showcase House, 1988
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TERROR FRIENDS LOOK WHAT IS ON THE PROGRAM AT GREENWICH THIS QUEER HISTORY MONTH
edit : it also says 'Queer passions, special interests and historical crushes very much encouraged. ' they know their audience >.<
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Tulip Staircase by Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz.
This ornate, wrought iron structure was the first geometric self-supporting spiral stair in Britain when it was installed in the Queen's House, Greenwich, London. Even today the stairs seem to defy gravity, with its captivating spiral linking the upper floors with the dramatic Great Hall.
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
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HMS Cornwallis model
This contemporary ship model of HMS Cornwallis is located in the All Hands children's gallery at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich. I missed it the other times I went because I didn't think to look there.
Fitzjames served on the Cornwallis from 1841-1843 during the First Opium War in China. This ship model was made from the same wood that was used for the actual ship and made by the shipbuilder himself in 1813.
[Pictures by me]
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The Painted Hall, Greenwich
During the king’s coronation I visited Greenwich's "Painted Hall." This series of rooms depict scenes relating to the success of British Protestantism and the beginning of burgeoning imperial expansion. Following the vital English naval victory over France at La Hougue in 1692, Queen Mary ordered that a hospital be built for retired seamen, in keeping with the existing hospital for former soldiers at Chelsea.
While Mary died before its completion her husband, William III, saw the projected through. Sir Christopher Wren (of St Paul’s fame) and his assistant, Nicholas Hawksmoor, designed a grand series of buildings at Greenwich, in London.
The Royal Hospital at Greenwich acted as a retirement home for sailors between the 1700s and late 1900s. And at its heart is the Painted Hall, a series of rooms where a relatively unknown artist, James Thornhill, was commissioned to paint scenes of British-Protestant triumph.
At the centre is King William III and Queen Mary shown overseeing ‘The Triumph of Peace and Liberty over Tyranny.’ Immediately above the couple and to their left is the allegorical figure of Prudence holding a mirror, one of the four Cardinal Virtues.
To her right are Providence and Concord, while to her left is Justice. Beneath Justice is a woman representing Europe, who is accepting the ‘cap of liberty,’ the ancient red Phrygian cap, from William, who in turn is accepting an olive branch from ‘Peace.’
Beneath William’s foot is the defeated Louis XIV of France with a broken sword, and a tumbling, discarded papal crown. Beneath them the ‘Spirit of Architecture’ along with Truth and Time are overseeing plans showing the actual construction of the hospital.
Above it all, Apollo rides his chariot, while the signs of the zodiac are arrayed around the edges. At the bottom, Pallas Athena and Hercules crush the Hydra and the Gorgon, ‘expelling the Vices from the Kingdom of William and Mary.’
Another section of the ceiling shows a captured Spanish galley laden with the spoils of war, a reference to the British capture of Gibraltar in 1704. Diana, Goddess of the moon, passes mastery of the tides over to British sailors. Beneath them are representations of the English rivers Avon, Severn and Humber.
To the left and the right, scientific advancement is celebrated by the presence of astronomers Tycho Brahe, John Flamsteed, Copernicus and Newton’s ‘Principia.’ The gods Neptune and Cybele oversee it all.
The next section of the ceiling shows HMS Blenheim being filled with the spoils of war by the winged figure of Victory. Beneath are more river representations along with the City of London and figures representing navigation and astronomy. On the left is Galileo, while Zeus and Juno watch from above.
The painted hall took decades to complete, and saw further dynastic change, as George I, originally of Hanover, became king after William III’s successor, Queen Anne, died. George maintained the Protestant ascendancy, as portrayed in the upper hall chamber adjoining the main hall.
Here we see George I, his wife Sophia of Hanover and their children and grandchildren beneath St Paul’s, overseen the a figure representing “the Golden Age” with overflowing cornucopia. The artist, James Thornhill, added himself on the right.
Over them is an inscription quoting Virgil's Eclogues, which translates as ‘a new generation has descended from the heavens.’
On the left of the upper hall is a depiction of William III’s arrival in England at the start of the Glorious Revolution in 1688, while George I is shown arriving on the opposite side of the hall (rather unrealistically in a chariot) in 1714.
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Observatories in the Scientific Revolution
The foundation of observatories during the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) followed a process of evolution from entirely independent observatories operated by a single astronomer to private observatories which received state or private funding to observatories which were entirely state-run institutions. The latter category became permanent features of a nation's scientific endeavours across the globe, and most still continue their work today.
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